Thursday, October 28, 2010

I was wandering through YouTube during lunch today and came across this set of videos from Wizards of the Coast. Paul Bazakas, National Account Director and Mike Mearls, Group Manager of D&D R&D explain not only the content but also the reasoning behind the Essentials line and how it fits together with the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I'll reserve my comments until the end of the 3rd video...

Wow. Well, I must say, all of my worries and misconceptions are gone. The Essentials line is an addition to fourth edition D&D just as if a new Players Handbook or Monster Manual was released. It is not to replace anything! This is great news! I'm willing to embrace expansions on the current system (especially at the lower price point) easier than if Essentials really was a different version of 4E. Thank you Mike and Paul for filming this and putting me at ease.

Personally, I'm not interested in the tokens (I have over 350 miniatures) but I can see how new players would not have the same kind of existing resources I have collected over time.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Since only 2 players could make it to the D&D session, I had the party sitting around and Kron (owner of the Thunderheart Incorporated adventuring company) started telling the story of how he first met Bojangles. It took place in a whorehouse called The Wooden Wench (where the wine is cheap and the women are cheaper) in the very center of Dock Ward in Waterdeep.

Normally Kron is just an NPC but I had Wayne play both Kron and Bojangles since Bojangles wasn't actually in the fight until half way through the very last battle. Normally I wouldn't do this to a player, but Wayne is my go-to player when we have missing people and is just there to have fun no matter what happens.

Here is the setup I emailed them a few days before...

Mariz has worked with Kron for quite some time but Bojangles' first meeting was one surrounded in filth and mysteries.

Dock Ward is Waterdeep's oldest and most colorful ward. The harbor is very much a working place, full of sweating, cursing dockworkers and sailors loading and unloading vessels. Carts grown hastily between warehouses all over the southern half of the city and Dock Ward, carrying goods to and from the ships. Dock Ward is also notorious as a lawless, brawling place of drunks, smugglers, and fell magic.

Notable landmarks of Dock Ward include Cookhouse Hall, Shippers' Hall, and the Full Sails tavern, headquarters of the Most Diligent League of Sail-Makers & Cordwainers. One of the less notable establishments of Dock Ward is The Wooden Wench, existing in the very center of the ward, drawing a more nefarious crowd. Many pleasures are avilable at The Wooden Wench but the servicers aren't the cleanliest.

Kron Thunderheart gt a tip there was something strange happening at The Wooden Wench and took Mariz into Dock Ward to check things out. Finding the brothel was easy enough and the stench was nearly overwhelming when they entered...

Here is a picture of the full map, the brothel has 2 stories with a single wooden staircase connecting them.

This was the bottom floor. Mariz can be seen here talking to the owner of the establishment. He and Kron decided to split up but had a code-word to let the other know if they were in trouble. They would yell “SUBMARINE!” and the other would come running from wherever they were in this “inn of sin”.

Once the party busted through the door to the main suite where BoJangles’ soul was being leeched, I turned off Radio Rivendell and kicked on the iPod.

They party was forced out of the room by the succubus, so they decided to try to get help from the people “busy” in the semi-private room. They opened the door to find the patrons and workers had been turned into undead creatures!

They defeated the undead and found a magical jeweled dagger that would one-shot the succubus, but sadly, they didn’t know that was its purpose (read: failed their arcane check) and never used it. Once they got through to the master suite, the succubus had Bojangles knocked out in a ritual circle and had begun to leech his soul. They attacked and she quickly kissed Kron, putting him under her spell. He was able to get Bojangles out of the summoning circle though, and right in time, as she “dominated” Mariz and controlled his next turn…meaning if Kron hadn’t gotten Bojangles out of the circle, she would have had control of all 3 of them and eaten very well that night. Of course, breaking the 4th wall, one of the players mentioned “we can’t die, we’re sitting in the guild hall telling this story!”

At one point my wife (who does not play D&D with us) came out of the bedroom to see how the game was going; she had no idea we were playing in a whorehouse that night. She was looking at the table with a puzzled look on her face and one of the players pointed saying “Here is a man, holding a pig, standing on a bed, in a whorehouse.” She looked at him, then looked at me, and looked at the other player (who was laughing uncontrollably at this point), and then looked back at me. I said “Well, you see…we’re…” and she cut me off with a wave of her hand and said “Uhnt! I don’t want to know,” and she walked away laughing. It had to of been the highlight of the night.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Hi everyone, Week 6 of FridayFeats over on Twitter was a little silly this week (08 OCT 10). Some feats posted by others were MetaGame feats addressing Power Gamers and those nasty Cheats that everyone has met one or two of. I had a little fun at my feats expense this week, so don't take them too seriously. I tried to make the Battlemind ones work, but the rest were just ideas that popped in to my head and I built from there. Even a couple of the Battlemind feats had a little fun poked at them, you may need to rename those if you consider using them.

You are Insubstantial against one attack of your choosing until beginning of next turn.

Comments: Looking up the term Whirling Dervish it was indicated that the Dervish dance is suppose to connect the dancer to both the physical and spiritual realms, as a result I felt that Insubstantial for one attack was a good way to simulate this idea.

Comments: The evil eye has always had very negative connotations that was suppose to make people shake in their boots, but because I was attaching these to At-Will powers, I didn't want to go crazy, so hopefully this is not too much and doesn't frustrate any one for how weak it seems in comparison to the stories we have all heard.

The resistance granted to you can also be shared with one adjacent ally

Comments: Anyone who knows about Iron Fist from the comics knows his bud Luke Cage: Powerman, and I just couldn't come up with a better name so I just went with it, one of the ones you probably will want to rename if you use it.

Choose a pattern when making rolls if you can maintain the pattern you receive +1 modifier, if you cannot maintain the pattern you receive cumulative -1 until you can start the pattern again or restart from where you left off in the previous pattern.

Comments: I have a friend who suffers from an O.C.D. personality and was thinking of him when it occurred to me, how this would affect a character and tossed this out there.

If the PC offers a spot of tea & request the enemy to parlay, combat pauses with the PC receiving a +5 modifier to end it on friendly terms, if the check fails combat resumes after finishing the tea, and the enemies have +1 to attacks for the next 5 attacks.

Comments: Just a silly idea that floated through my head. Flame away, because I don't care about it.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I’ve never been to PAX, but every year I love reading about what goes on there. There was a celebrity D&D game run featuring Acquisitions Incorporated. Below is the 10 part series as posted on YouTube. Be warned, it does contain adult language. Enjoy!

Benefit: The ally, you granted the attack to, can choose to grant CA (combat advantage) to the target until end of next turn, the ally will then have CA against the target for the granted MBA (melee basic attack).

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

So there I was, standing in my friendly local game store (FLGS)...on pay day, no less. Funny how that always seems to happen. I my eyes panned across the bookshelf, my eyes were caught by the glimmer of light off a shrink-wrapped box off to the side. Yes! Today, the Dungeon Tiles Master Set - The Dungeon: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Accessory (4th Edition D&D) would be mine!

I love dungeon tiles, grid maps, gaming paper, printed maps, purchasable 3d terrain, and even homemade 3d terrain. No matter what it is, I feel the tiles and terrain can always help increase the fun factor of the game. Now, just because I enjoy those things doesn't mean I'm willing to just throw money away on lots of low quality gaming aids. I became excited as I read the promotional material plastered around the Dungeon Tiles Master Set box: "This accessory contains 10 double-sided sheets of illustrated, die-cut terrain tiles printed on heavy cardstock, allowing you to create dungeon rooms, corridors, and outdoor locales. The product box is designed for tile storage and can be used as a terrain element in the game!" Sounds like a match made in heaven!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Yes, that is right, FridayFeat over on Twitter just had its 4th week last week (24SEP10), even though last week was my first time posting them here. This week will have a smaller number of feats because last week was all 3 prior weeks. I plan to take some time to make sure the feats are a bit better than last week's. Hopefully they will come closer to balanced and usable by most individuals.

As a minor action you may grant surprise of all enemies to all allies, if you succeed in surprising any of your enemies.

Comments: I like Hobgoblins as generals of goblinoid armies and have always felt they were a little short changed on the way of showing how good they are with tactics. I feel since this will only be available to hobgoblins and the racial power was a little too little, that this would not be too much. I considered making it available only Hobgoblin leaders, but that seemed overly restrictive. Additionally Surprise is only available right before the first turn and the Hobgoblin must have surprise against the enemy to grant it to the others, it doesn't seem overpowered, from what I have experienced.

Early Bloomer

Prerequisites: Human

The bonus power you select as your racial feature gains a +1 attack and +2 damage.

Comments: I wrote this one in a vague kind of way because I want Half-elves to be able to take advantage of it also.

Follow The Leader

Prerequisites: Leader

You attack and hit an enemy, each subsequent ally's attacks gains +1 attack, until an enemy hits with an attack or end of your next turn.

Comments: I really want to give a benefit other than just knocking down the monster faster for the characters to gang up on one creature at a time. I also wanted to reinforce the fact that the leader in general is the one who is suppose to be guiding combat, either because of their their combat knowledge, intuition, god or primal spirit leads them to attack the appropriate target.

Get Back

Skill training required: Acrobatics

Encounter

Action: Immediate Interrupt

Trigger: Ally is hit by an attack

Range: Your Speed

You move to your ally's square and slide the ally 1 square, you take the damage meant for them.

Comments: This just seemed like something a heroic character should be able to do at least once per encounter. Now that I have fully expanded this out, I modified it, because it seems more like a skill utility power, instead of an feat.